Page 4 - Department Of Telecommunications

DoT suspends 24,229 fraud mobile connections linked to three numbers

Many of the mobile numbers found in the latest reported cache of connections showed suspected activity and have been disconnected in one go, officials said

Has Airtel's customer database been breached by hackers? Company says this

A hacker had posted on X that data of nearly 375 million Airtel customers, including phone numbers, email addresses, and Aadhaar numbers, were supposedly for sale on the dark web

New telecom law to come into effect from June 26: What are the changes?

The Telecommunications Act of 2023 was approved by both Houses during the Winter Session in December last year and received presidential assent in the same month

Notifying new telecom rules DoT's focus for first 100 days: Officials

Terms of reference for satellite spectrum allocation, processes for data interception in the works, say officials

Vaishnaw takes charge of IT Ministry, wants India to be tech leader

Focus will be on semiconductors, telecommunications, and manufacturing, he says

DoT's 100-day agenda intact: Crackdown on rising spam calls, text messages

DoT is also preparing terms of reference for allocation of satellite spectrum

Telecom operators seek 5-6 year moratorium on spectrum purchases after 2025

Operators said such a moratorium is needed on spectrum bought in auctions from next year due to significant capital expenditure incurred in deploying 5G services

DoT identifies property assets of BSNL and MTNL for 'outright sale'

The government has listed over 100 properties of MTNL for outright sale through an auction process

Govt's telecom revenue for FY24 expected to miss target by Rs 10,000 cr

Under the 2022 revival package totalling Rs 1.64 trillion and the Rs 89,047 crore allocation in 2023, the government is set to provide spectrum and settle adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues for BSNL

Govt working to prevent international spoof calls deceiving Indian citizens

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre and the Department of Telecommunications are collaborating to block the influx of overseas spoof calls that falsely alleging digital arrests

DoT asks operators to re-verify over 600,000 mobile connections in 60 days

The Department of Telecom has directed telecom operators to verify more than 6 lakh mobile connections suspected to have been obtained using invalid, non-existent, or fake documents, an official statement said on Thursday. The DoT has issued directives to telecom operators to carry out immediate re-verification of the identified mobile numbers within 60 days. "DoT has identified approximately 6.80 lakh mobile connections suspected to have been obtained using invalid, non-existent, or fake and forged Proof of Identity (PoI) and Proof of Address (PoA) KYC documents," the statement said. The department has flagged around 6.80 lakh mobile connections as potentially fraudulent after advanced AI-driven analysis. "The questionable veracity of the PoI/PoA KYC documents suggests the use of fabricated documents for obtaining these mobile connections. DoT has issued directives to the TSPs to carry out immediate re-verification of these identified mobile numbers. All TSPs are mandated to ...

Ineffective interventions

Spam calls must be stopped

Value of mergers and acquisitions at lowest level in at least 76 months

With 98 deals, the total value of M&A stood at $1.8 billion. In the same month last year, the value was $8 billion across 204 deals

Govt portal pins 898,000 missing phones, less than 15% recovered: DoT

Only 1.43% of traced stolen phones finally recovered, 69% in Telangana

DoT to telecom operators: How much of legacy gear is non-trusted?

Considers US-like 'rip & replace' scheme to help telcos shift to 'trusted sources' to ensure national security

Telecom operators group asks govt to ban sale of unlicenced WiFi 6E routers

Cellular Operators Association of India says routers are available for sale on e-commerce platforms and through offline retailer

In the works: Telecom Patent Fund to access costly tech, drive innovation

DoT plans fund to acquire critical licences from global firms for startups and SMEs, boost indigenous R&D

Vodafone Idea earmarks Rs 5,720 crore to roll out 5G wireless network

Plans to use Rs 18K cr FPO's proceeds to upgrade infra, clear deferred payments; govt holding will dilute to 24% from 32% currently

DoT postpones spectrum auction by 17 days to June 6 due to elections

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has deferred the spectrum auction by 17 days to June 6 as per the amendments made in the notice inviting application for the bids on Wednesday. The department has also reduced bank guarantee and guarantee for earnest money deposit, in a move to ease liquidity for the bidders. According to the amendment, the new date for "start of the live auction" has been changed to June 6 -- after the announcement of the Lok Sabha results -- from May 20. The mock auctions will now be held on June 3 instead of May 13 and 14. The government will auction eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of about Rs 96,317 crore. The DoT has also reduced the number of blocks for auction in the 900 Mhz band in the West Bengal circle to 44 from 48 blocks that were proposed earlier. The validity of bank guarantee for earnest money deposit (EMD) in the form of bank guarantee will be valid for less period till September 30, 2024 instead of December 31, 2024,

DoT asks telcos to suspend USSD-based call forwarding, switch to other mode

The Department of Telecom has asked telecom operators to deactivate USSD-based call forwarding with effect from April 15 and move to alternative methods to re-activate it, an official order said. Mobile subscribers use USSD service just by dialling any active code on their phone screens. The service is often used for checking IMEI numbers and mobile phone balances, among others. The order has been issued to check frauds and online crimes that are operated through mobile phones. In an order dated March 28, the DoT said that it has come to its notice that USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) based call forwarding facility, most commonly known *401# services for unconditional call forwarding services, is being misused for some unwarranted activities. "In this regard, it has been decided by the competent authority that all licensees shall discontinue the existing USSD-based call forwarding services with effect from April 15, 2024, till further notice. "All existing subscribe